Chad and Mauritania lead in the Sahel and Southern Sahara

International

Untamed Borders will launch a new group trip to Chad next year, taking guests to explore some of the most striking landscapes anywhere in the Sahara.

In the vast expanses of the desert sea, there are soaring peaks, along with oases and waterholes home to the last Saharan crocodiles.

Chad sits in the Sahel – an area making the headlines for the wrong reasons, more commonly known for being particularly susceptible to climate change, insecurity and political instability.

However, in Chad, there have been improvements over recent years, where a new e-visa has been introduced to encourage more international visitors.

This is something mirrored further west in Mauritania, which also recently brought in a new online visa system. Tourism numbers in Mauritania are hard to verify, but riding the famous Iron Ore Train through the desert, became so popular with visitors, the government had to try and ban it.

Next year, Untamed Borders will take guests on a 17-day expedition into Chad’s Ennedi Plateau and earlier this year it launched new group tour to Mauritania, with more to come over the next 12 months.

Other parts of the Sahara are also seeing a rise in interest, including Southern Algeria, and tourists have returned to the South of Libya too.

Alongside unspoiled scenery, Chad, Mauritania and the South of Libya are also home to fascinating UNESCO listed sites. An increase in tourism to these nations not only showcases these wonderful places to foreign visitors, but also provides a valuable source of employment in nations where opportunities can be few, helping to lift people out of poverty.

It isn’t all good news for the Sahel and Southern Sahara though, there are still major problems in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, with fears of conflict and tensions spilling over borders.

For the past 30 years large parts of the region have been tricky places to travel in, sitting on major people and drug smuggling routes, in countries affected by conflict and earning them a lawless reputation.

However, for the adventurous tourist, parts of the Sahel and the Southern Sahara do offer pockets of relative calm, with beautiful nature, a rich history and exciting experiences to be enjoyed.

Untamed Borders’ new group trip to Chad departs in February 2027, with the next group tours to Mauritania and South of Libya in November this year. The company also organises group trips to the Algerian Sahara, with departures in November this year and January 2027. Private trips are available across all of these nations, plus many others across Africa, Middle East and Asia. For more information about any of these destinations, please email – info@untamedborders.com.